Great Barrier Reef's Microbiome Unveiled
Researchers have documented over 800,000 microbial genomes in the Great Barrier Reef, identifying hundreds of new bacterial and viral species. This comprehensive database will help scientists monitor reef health and responses to environmental stressors like bleaching and storms.
Why it matters
Understanding the reef's microbiome is essential for developing conservation strategies to protect one of the world's most vital ecosystems.
We can now measure changes in the thousands of different and invisible microbes that contribute to healthy reef communities.
In 2012, Nature revealed that humans provide a home to thousands of different species of microbes, in a series of papers that opened a path to understanding the impact of the human microbiome on our health.
Today, a paper in Nature documents over 800,000 microbial genomes, identifying over 500 new bacterial species and over 300,000 distinct viruses in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.
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